Becoming a Prayer WarriorSample

Pray in the Spirit

In his famous section on spiritual warfare, Paul urges us to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers” (Ephesians 6:18). What exactly does he mean? What’s the difference between praying “in the Spirit” and praying “out of/without the Spirit?"

To be honest, I wasn’t sure! But God brought me (through the power of Google!) to a helpful blog in which a wise pastor summarized it this way—Praying “in the Spirit” is when the Holy Spirit guides us to pray for holy things. Later in the New Testament, James warns us about praying with selfish motives, when we are only thinking about our health and our wealth and our comfortable lives. But the Holy Spirit guides us to pray for holy things, redirecting our prayers from being all ego and from using God to get what we want instead of talking to God about what he wants.

This is why, historically, Christians have connected the Word and prayer. When you read the Bible, you discover what God wants, and the most “spiritual” reaction is to pray: “God, you taught me today about the forgiveness of Jesus. Thank you for forgiving me. Help my friend who doesn’t believe that your forgiveness is for her. Jesus, you were so patient with people in this passage. Thank you for being patient with me. Forgive me for yesterday when I wasn’t so patient with him.”

Let the Spirit who inspired the passages be the Spirit who directs your prayers. That’s how you “pray in the Spirit.”